Are you a home cook who’s been searching for a copy of “Pigtails and Frog Legs: A Family Cookbook from Neiman Marcus”? Or what about “Harley and Davidson Family Recipes” or “101 Secrets of California Chefs”?
It just so happens that The Bookmark Bookstore, whose sales go to support the Oakland Public Library, recently got a huge donation of cookbooks that it’ll be putting on the shelves March 15-16. Fans of physical media can expect to peruse some 5,000 titles, including ones from local chefs, rare and esoteric selections and historic tomes dating from World War II and earlier.
“We’re still digging through items that are on the older side,” says Erin Rivero, operations manager at The Bookmark. “For this first sale (there may be more in the future!), we’ve found titles dating back to the 1940s. We imagine there are even older items in the collection, and we’re excited to unearth those later in the spring and summer.”
The Bookmark Bookstore is located in downtown Oakland and, for three decades, has supported the Oakland Public Library with sales of donated books, comics, music and other media. Founded in 1992 by the Friends of the Oakland Public Library, which still runs it, the store is 95 percent volunteer-staffed and has donated over its lifetime more than $3 million to the public library.
The March sale spans many cuisines and specialties from culinary masters around the globe. “There are many, many niche and oddball titles for sale,” says Rivero.
These include “Totally Hot! The Ultimate Hot Pepper Cookbook” by Michael Goodwin and Charles Perry, “Blue Collar Food: Easy Home Cooking for Hardworking People by Two Really Nice Guys” (Chris Styler and Bill Hodge), “How to Be a Better Foodie: A Bulging Little Book for the Truly Epicurious” by Sudi Pigott, “Cottage Cheese and Yogurt Made Easy” by Eileen Barth, “The Sandwich Cookbook 1980” by Chartwell, “Almost Vegetarian” by Diana Shaw, “Lowbush Moose” by Gordon Nelson and “The Little Gumbo Book” by Gwen McKee.
There are also cookbooks that involve local organizations, restaurants and chefs from the Bay Area and the greater Californian region, adds Rivero. These total over 250 titles, including California Heritage cookbooks, “101 Secrets of California Chefs: Original Recipes from the State’s Great Restaurants,” a curated title from the Junior League of Oakland-East Bay, and “In the Kitchen Recipes from the Bay Area’s Best Chefs” (2016-2018 edition).
For this sale, members receive 30 percent off on Saturday the 15th, and everyone receives 30 percent off on Sunday the 16th. If you miss it, don’t fret. There are still some 5,000 other cookbooks the bookstore is pouring over, which it plans to offer up at a later date.
Details: The Bookmark Bookstore is open 11a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday-Friday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday at 933 Broadway, Oakland; (510) 444-0473, fopl.org/the-bookmark